I am Italian-American by birth, and I now reside in the UK with my British husband. I never learned Italian as a child. My grandfather, who was proudly the first person in his family to be born in America, would always say, "We're Americans, speak American!" (Of course, he meant English. However, my British husband agrees with Grandfather's linguistic assessment. He says that I don't speak English -- I speak American! Who knew?!) So now that I am retired, I am attempting to learn Italian.